Mile High Choke Job

Sunday's 30-23 loss to Buffalo was one of the most devastating losses I have ever endured as a Bronco fan. This one ranks up there with the three Super Bowls in the 80s, the 1993 Season Finale and Wild Card loss to the Raiders, the 1996 AFC Divisional loss to the Jaguars, the 2005 AFC Championship Game, and the 2006 season finale against the Niners. This game was brutal. Denver got off to a fantastic start. Up 13-0 and the defense was stuffing the shit out of the Bills. Normally, when a team playing out the string (Buffalo) gets down early like that, they fold up the tent and mail in the game. However, with a defense like Denver's, no lead or game is ever out of reach. The main turning point in this game was the sequence at the end of the half. With Denver up 13-3, the second quarter was winding down. With about two minutes to go, Shanahan ordered Matt Prater to try a 54 yard field goal on a cold and windy day. Considering the fact that Prater is awful from 40 to 49 yards, why would Shanny even contemplate this move. Well, he did and of course Prater missed and Buffalo had good field position. Of course they drove down and scored a touchdown. Thrown in the fact that Buffalo received the ball at the half, and this game was tied 13-13 before Denver even got the ball back again. The rest played out like a typical Bronco 2008 shootout. Jay Cutler's 4th down pass to Brandon Stokley hit him in the hands in the end zone, but it was broken up by Buffalo's Reggie Corner and that was it. I stared in disbelief as the Denver season looks like it hit the shits. I was about to cry for the first time since my senior year in high school after the '96 loss to the Jags. I was devastated. How could this happen? For the second time in three years, HOW THE FUCK COULD THEY CHOKE AGAIN? AT HOME!!!! I'm not going to start talking about what needs to be done for this team to make the playoffs in 2009(Quick Hint: Pack your bags, Slowik). I will wait until the 2008 season ends to do that(Quick Hint #2: This Sunday at SD). The bottom line is Denver's Defense is the Achilles Heel to this team and the season. All year they give up big play after big play. They can't get to the QB, and more importantly they don't force turnovers. I could care less about yards allowed. The real Defensive stats for me are: Points Allowed and Turnovers. Denver has 11 turnovers forced in 15 games. The Offense and Cutler always have pressure on them to score and when they don't score, the Defense never holds an opponent in a big spot. As for this week, maybe it is destiny to face off with San Diego in Week 17 in a rematch of the Ed Hochuli Bowl. I will talk about that game later in the week, but put it this way: Denver is done, finished and fried. There is no way San Diego is going to lose this game on Sunday Night (Thanks NBC). I'll have my preview of this game on Friday-along with the rest of my Week 17 picks. Here is my predictions for the playoffs based on my thoughts on the Week 17 games. Enjoy!

AFC
1-Tennessee (14-2)
2-Pittsburgh (12-4)
3-New England (11-5)
4-San Diego (8-8)
5-Indy (11-5)
6-Baltimore (11-5)

NFC
1-Giants (12-4)
2-Carolina (12-4)
3-Minnesota (10-6)
4-Arizona (9-7)
5-Atlanta (11-5)
6-Dallas (10-6)

Playoff Matchups:
Saturday 1/3/09
4:00pm-NBC- Atlanta @ Arizona
8:00pm-NBC- Indy @ San Diego

Sunday 1/4/09
1:00pm-CBS- Baltimore @ New England
4:00pm-FOX- Dallas @ Minnesota